IRISH BOY KILLED IN HIT-AND-RUN
Man quizzed by police after damaged car found during island-wide search
A MAN is being quizzed by police over the hit-and-run death of a 10-year-old Irish boy in Tenerife.
He was arrested after an island-wide search sparked by Thursday’s incident.
An off-duty cop found the damaged car thought to have been involved abandoned a few miles from the scene in Adeje.
Locals took to social media after the child died in hospital on Friday. Maria Tirado wrote: “Rest in peace, little boy.”
POLICE in Tenerife hunting the hit-and-run killer of a 10-year-old Irish boy have arrested a man.
The suspect, who lives near the scene of Thursday’s accident, was held after investigators discovered his car during a search around the island.
He was being quizzed yesterday evening while forensic experts examined his vehicle, a red Alfa Romeo.
The car, which had a broken front headlight, is understood to have been found abandoned a few miles from the Gran Sur shopping centre in Adeje where the boy was struck when he was with his family.
The car seized by investigators was initially spotted by an off-duty police officer opposite Adeje football ground.
Local reports said the car was gone when officers went to the location.
The driver is said to have moved it to another undisclosed area where it was subsequently found by police and confiscated. The suspect, who has not been named, lives in the municipality of Granadilla de Abona in the south of the holiday island.
The youngster was taken to hospital in the capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Thursday evening but died late on Friday. The incident happened at around 8.30pm in a street called Calle Dublin, (Dublin Street), in Adeje in the south of the island. He suffered head injuries as well as chest wounds which affected his right lung. He was admitted to an intensive care unit at the University Hospital Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria from another hospital where he was initially taken after being stabilised at the scene. The youngster has not been named. A spokesman for a regional government emergency response service released a statement after the incident.
He said: “We received a call about a traffic accident involving a 10-year-old boy at 8.30pm on Thursday.
“Two ambulances went to the scene along with a doctor and nurse from a nearby health centre.
“One of the ambulances rushed him to Hospiten Sur with multiple serious injuries. He was subsequently transferred to another hospital.”
Police say the hit-and-run car suffered frontal damage.
It is believed the driver fled the scene without getting out of his vehicle to check on the condition of the child.